David Cameron believes football has failed to set up the structures it needs
to combat racism, senior Government sources have told Telegraph Sport.

The Prime Minister will now demand that the Football Association and other authorities outline tougher measures to ensure they deal better with the sort of incidents which have been a stain on the game’s reputation over the past year.

The revelation that Cameron and other minister do not believe the problem has been confronted properly came on the day Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish admitted for the first time that the Anfield club mishandled the Luis Suarez case.

Sports minister, Hugh Robertson, told Telegraph Sport: “We expect the football authorities to come forward with a clear plan of action in the coming weeks on what more can be done to tackle racism in the game. Events over the last year have shown the need for action.”

The Prime Minister staked his personal reputation on the matter when he convened an anti-discrimination summit for leading football figures, including the FA chairman, David Bernstein, in February. There he demanded everyone rally round to “crush” the “worrying return of racism” in the game.

That was in response to the two high-profile on-pitch incidents separately involving Chelsea's John Terry and Liverpool’s Suarez.

Dalglish, who was Suarez’s manager at Liverpool, spoke on Thursday of his regrets about the way Liverpool leapt reflexively to the Uruguayan’s defence, and remained defiant even after he had been found guilty of abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

“It might not have been right but it was not me who decided it,” Dalglish told Talksport Radio on Thursday. “I think anything that is not done in a positive manner cannot help you but I was only the manager. There are other people with greater intelligence than me and greater responsibilities than me when it comes to something like this."

Dalglish said it was Liverpool’s players and not him who had taken the fateful decision to wear T-shirts in support of Suarez.

’I think [it was] the club as a whole. It wasn’t just me. The T-shirts were the players wanting to show their support for a team-mate. I didn’t send them out in the T-shirts. The boys decided that themselves. You can’t tell me they would have done that if they didn’t believe in him and didn’t have respect for him. It might not have been right, but it wasn’t me that decided it. A lot of things are misinterpreted and misrepresented. I was brought up to be respectful and tell the truth, and what I believed to be the truth is what I said. I can’t be any different in that.”

Since Suarez, football’s image has been further tarnished by Terry’s abuse of Anton Ferdinand and a series of other flashpoints, including this week’s allegation by Chelsea against referee Mark Clattenburg.

Cameron ordered an inquiry by the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, which announced its conclusions on the FA’s interim response last month.

The committee’s chairman, John Whittingdale MP, said then: “More needs to be done to increase the diversity of the pool of candidates for coaches and referees, to embed the values of equality and diversity at all levels of the game.

“While the general level of progress in combating racism and racist abuse in the UK is positive and should be applauded, there is much more that can and must be done, and we believe it is for the FA to take the lead and set the example for everyone, from football authorities at all levels to the grassroots groups, to follow.”

The Football Association has given a first response to the parliamentary inquiry but at the highest level of government there is an expectation for robust measures when they report back with final proposals next month.

Peter Herbert, the chair of the Society of Black Lawyers, has emerged as a key figure in promoting diversity in football and has devised a 10-point plan for football to follow. One of the elements is the Rooney Rule, adopted in the US, which stipulates that for every coaching vacancy one candidate on the interview shortlist must come from a minority background.

“People in football have assumed it undermines merit,” said Herbert. “Quite the opposite. You need to have the best of what you have, not the best of what you think you have.

“There needs to be training and expertise for players so they can go on courses. In the US most athletes are in college. It means you have players for whom education is prioritized. We think it must be here too.

“Not just for black players but for all players there should be education to maximize their potential. It creates a more successful game in football.”

A spokesman for the FA said on Thursday night that the “whole game review” of anti-discrimination policies is close to being completed. He added the recommendations it sets out will be “robust”.